


Epitaph

by The_Muses_of_Mars



Category: Jem and the Holograms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-04-16 13:11:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4626489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Muses_of_Mars/pseuds/The_Muses_of_Mars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A beloved member of Jem and the Holograms goes missing. After agonizing, sleepless nights and a harrowing search, the hopes and dreams of America's sweetheart pop group are torn apart when the heart and soul of the band is found dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“There it is!” Raya exclaimed, pointing a finger at the black iron gates up ahead.  
  
“Finally!” Kimber whined. “I was beginning to wonder if this parking lot even _had_ a zoo!”  
  
Jerrica laughed, but shook her head at her younger sister. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad,” she soothed, referring to the nearly twenty-minute trek from the spot where they’d parked their car to the Columbus Zoo ticket booth.  
  
“Easy for you to say!” Kimber argued back. “You're not the one in heels!”  
  
Aja shrugged without sympathy. “It was your choice to be fashionable instead of wearing a sensible pair of shoes,” she retorted.  
  
Kimber glared back at her. “Hey, how was _I_ supposed to know we’d have to walk a mile before we'd even get through the door?”  
  
‘It could be worse,” Shana chimed in. “Remember the last time we went to the zoo—back in San Diego?”  
  
The girls groaned, but Raya didn’t understand. “San Diego?” she repeated questioningly.  
  
The other bandmates exchanged glances.  
  
“A few years ago we took the Starlight girls to the San Diego zoo,” Jerrica began.  
  
“Courtesy of one Randy James,” Shana named-dropped their celebrity drummer friend with a grin, causing Raya’s eyebrows to raise.  
  
Aja took up the story while they waited in line for tickets. “Ba Nee mistook Randy for her father based on his military background, and because he has red hair, like her mother told her her father did.”  
  
“And she tried to prove it by making him rescue her, by jumping into the bear pen,” Kimber finished.  
  
Raya covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, God... I never knew!”  
  
“Well, it all worked out okay,” Jerrica said, though it still shook her to recall the ordeal. “We were able to get Ba Nee out before...before anything happened,” she finished quickly.  
  
“Thanks to you, Jerrica,” Aja added quietly.  
  
Kimber put a hand on her sister’s shoulder.  
  
They paid for their tickets and walked through the gates soberly. “All right, no more gloom and doom!” Aja said sharply. “We came here to have fun, so let’s!”  
  
The screams of people flying high off the ground on a roller coaster ride just left of the entrance got them back into the spirit of things.  
  
“I didn’t know there were rides!” Raya said excitedly.  
  
“It’s a water park!” Shana laughed. “Now _that_ sounds like fun. Wanna go?”  
  
“Sure!” Raya agreed.  
  
Aja had grabbed a park map on her way in, and was already unfolding it to examine the winding paths through the zoo exhibits. “I think I’ll start at the aquarium. I want to _see_ the water—not _wear_ it,” she cracked.  
  
“Sounds interesting. I’ll go with you,” Jerrica decided. ‘Kimber, which way are you going?”  
  
But the redhead’s attention was already on the gift shop. “I think I’ll look around for a souvenir,” she said without tearing her gaze away from the display window.  
  
Shana shook her head. “Anything you buy now, you’re just going to have to carry around all day.”  
  
“Let’s stop on the way out,” Aja agreed.  
  
“If I find something cute, I’ll just buy a new handbag to put it in!” Kimber argued with a flippant smile. “Maybe I can pick up some flip-flops, while I’m at it; my feet are killing me!”  
  
“Suit yourself,” Jerrica shrugged, heading along the path with Aja. “You’ve got my cell phone number, so give us a call when you want to meet up and we can see the rest of the zoo together.”  
  
“Okay, have fun!” Kimber called, waving to her friends.  
  
It was the last time they would ever see each other.


	2. Chapter 2

“I didn’t know it cost extra,” Shana grumbled a little as she and Raya entered the water park.

Raya watched everyone enjoying the rides with shining eyes. “Come on. It will be worth it!’

 _“Zoombezi Bay,”_ Shana read from the map a guide had handed to her. “Eleven water rides... That shouldn’t take us too long; the lines seem to be short.”

“Look! There's a cabaña rental!” Raya exclaimed, excitedly pointing out some shady huts along the edge of a pond. “When we’re finished riding, we should text Aja and Jerrica and ask them to pick up lunch and bring it here for a scenic picnic!”

Shana grinned at her. “What a great idea!”

 

“Oh, no, there’s a line!” Aja said as soon as she and Jerrica had stepped through the glass doors and entered the aquarium.

“That’s just for the petting zoo,” Jerrica said, reading a sign next to the roped-off area to their right. “I don't think I want to ‘pet’ anything, do you?” She raised a brow skeptically.

Aja looked at her for a moment, then they shook their heads simultaneously, laughing. “Come on, then. Let’s move ahead and see what else there is to see.”

They bypassed the small aquatic petting zoo, where kids and adults alike were squealing over the slimy feel of tiny sea creatures, and soon found themselves walking alongside a floor-to-ceiling tank viewing a variety of fish in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

“Wow... Is that a shark?” Jerrica exclaimed, pressing her hands to the glass.

“Look!” Aja pointed. “A sting ray!”

There were more than a dozen different sea creatures swimming by on display, and beautiful plantlife clinging to the rocks behind them.

“It almost makes you feel like you’re underwater!” Aja laughed, having to look at the floor for a moment as she almost lost her balance.

“This is amazing,” Jerrica breathed. “Kimber should hurry and catch up. She wouldn’t want to miss this!”

 

Kimber had gotten hung up at the clothing racks in the souvenir shop and completely lost track of the time. There were hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, sunglasses, and handbags, and she’d wanted to touch and try them all on. When she’d finally finished browsing, she was certain even Aja would approve of her restraint in making a solitary, “sensible” purchase: just a pair of flat sandals she’d found on a safari-themed display.

There were so many other things to see, but she resisted the temptation to stock up now and instead decided to shop with the girls when they were all on their way out of the zoo later today. For now she reached into her purse, fishing around for her cell phone.

Just as her fingers found their target, the sound of a familiar ringtone gave her a start.

_“Twilight in Paris, city of lights...”_

She’d written that song. And then, ironically, had had to pay to download it as a ringtone.

Kimber plucked the cell out of her purse, checking the screen to see who was calling. The number didn’t display; instead the phone showed the caller’s ID as “private.”

Annoyed, she pressed a button and then held the phone up to her ear. “Hello?” she sighed.

 _“Hey there, sweetheart,”_ a raspy voice breathed into the phone.

“Um...who is this?” Kimber asked, looking around to see if someone was playing a prank on her. She didn’t immediately recognize the voice, but something about it sent a shiver creeping along the back of her spine.

The voice sighed heavily. _“So many boyfriends, you can’t keep track of ’em all, can you, Kimber?”_

That voice...

The way he said her name... Almost like an “a” sound at the end of it, rather than an “er.” The New England accent sounded familiar to her now. But she couldn’t quite place whom it belonged to.

Kimber was so hung up on the fact that an almost-familiar name was on the tip of her tongue and a nearly-recognized face at the fringes of her mind that she forgot the guy’s implied insult. “I don’t like guessing games,” the redhead said seriously, looking about her surroundings warily. “Who are you?”

 _“Meet me in the parking lot, and you’ll find out,”_ the man challenged. _“Can’t miss me. I’m parked right beside your car.”_

The call disconnected. Kimber knew the man had hung up on her without having to look at her phone, because the heavy breathing had finally stopped hissing in her ear.

She looked down at the cell phone clutched in her palm with indecision. It sounded like a prank. It had to be someone she knew, though, right? He had her number and he knew her name. And his voice _did_ sound familiar. But who would do a creepy thing like tell a girl to meet him all alone in a parking lot, a mile away from her friends and everyone else?

Well, she didn’t know. But she was determined to find out!

And then she was going to give him a piece of her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

“Excuse me.” Kimber stopped at the ticket booth, waving to get an employee’s attention. “If I leave, can I get back into the zoo?”

The man leaned over the counter, giving her a suspicious look. She wasn’t sure if it was because he recognized her from Jem and the Holograms, who were in Columbus to perform a concert over the weekend, or if it was because she’d asked a stupid question. But after a moment he shrugged and said, “Sure, as long as you have your ticket with today’s date stamped on it.”

“Great.” Kimber sighed with relief, then hurried to make an excuse when the young man continued to stare. “I forgot something in my car.” It was a lie. She didn’t even have the keys; Jerrica did. But her curiosity was getting the better of her, and she wanted to know who exactly had made that crazy phone call.

Maybe the guy at the ticket counter hadn’t recognized the young pop star, but as Kimber hurried from the zoo a large group of children did. As their eyes lit up and they began clamoring to get their adult chaperone’s attention to point her out, Kimber pulled a pair of dark shades from her purse and quickly slipped them on, turning her face away. Normally she wouldn’t have minded giving out a few autographs or posing for selfies with adoring fans, especially if they were children, but she wasn’t sure how long the man would wait in the parking lot, and considering it had taken her twenty minutes to walk one way from the car the last time... But there was one way to make the trip faster.

Hiding as well as she could behind a towering lamppost and using it to brace herself, Kimber stepped out of her pumps and swapped them for the sandals she’d just bought at the souvenir shop. She overheard someone say, “Hey... Isn’t that one of the Holograms?” and picked up her heels and started speed-walking.

 

“Hey... I see you!” Aja teased, busting Jerrica picking up a figurine at the aquarium gift store.

Jerrica shrugged helplessly, then held up her find for her friend to see. She was holding a small, painted, porcelain mermaid with wild, red hair and ocean blue fins. Aja couldn’t help but admire it. “Kimber loves mermaids,” Jerrica explained with a pout. “I can’t not get this for her.”

Aja rolled her eyes but conceded defeat. “You might as well; at the rate she’s going, she’ll probably never make it to the aquarium.”

Jerrica carried the figurine to the checkout counter and watched the clerk carefully roll it up in bubble wrap. “Thank you,” she said, accepting the small gift bag and trading the woman her credit card. Aja stepped into line beside her and set a bag of candy on the counter. “Aja!” Jerrica scolded.

“Oh, shut up,” Aja scowled. “It’s been like five hours since breakfast.” She glanced at her wristwatch. “I wonder if the girls have finished playing in the water park.”

Once her credit card was back in her hand and she’d tucked it into her wallet, Jerrica stepped back to let Aja pay cash for her candy. “Good point. Now that you mention it, I am getting hungry.” She dropped her wallet into her purse and reached for her cell phone. “Ah! Shana’s already texted me. They’re finished with the rides and have found a shady spot where we can have a picnic.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Aja dropped the change left over from her purchase into the aquarium donation jar at the end of the counter. “To the food court?” she suggested.

“Hold on just a second; let me text Kimber first.”

“Okay. You’d better hope she has her volume turned up.”

Jerrica smiled. “Kimber never turns it down.”

 

“I should have known it was you.” Kimber stood near the trunk of the Holograms’ rental car, arms crossed, face-to-face with Zipper. _Stupid, stupid!_ she cursed herself. They weren’t driving their flashy roadster for this casual outing. No one could have possibly known where they had parked, unless... “Were you following us?”

“Since the hotel, baby,” Zipper confessed with more earnest than amusement.

Something about his demeanor was off. It set Kimber’s nerves on edge. She didn’t give voice to the obvious follow-up question: from what point in relation to the hotel had he been watching them? She tried to repress a shudder as he tossed his cigarette to the ground. She didn’t want to think about that. She wished she’d never come back here alone.

Suddenly, mercifully, a familiar song cut through the ominous silence hanging heavily between them.

_“Twilight in Paris, city of lights...”_

Kimber’s attention shifted to her purse. As she reached gratefully for her phone, Zipper lashed out with frenzied speed. With a single hand he grabbed hold of Kimber’s hair, his fist tightening around the soft, red strands as he brought her head down to slam it into the bumper of his ’65 Dodge Coronet.

She crumpled like a rag doll without so much as a struggle.

Zipper didn’t waste any time checking for damage to either Kimber’s head or the bumper of his beat-up old car; the trunk was already unlocked, so he just yanked it open as fast as he could with one hand, scooping the girl’s light body up with his other arm and easily depositing her into the musty interior. He slammed the trunk shut again on her unconscious form, then snatched her purse from the pavement. He paused only long enough to kick her high-heeled shoes under the Holograms’ rental car, then climbed into his own vehicle and started the engine. He turned the radio up loud enough to drown out the sound of the ringing cell phone and sped toward the exit.


	4. Chapter 4

When Kimber didn’t respond to her texts, Jerrica tried calling her. The phone kept ringing, but Kimber wasn’t answering.

“Maybe she’s sampling a nature CD and has headphones on, or she’s trying on clothes,” Raya had suggested.

So Aja and Jerrica had gone to the food court to pick up lunch while Shana and Raya secured them a spot to picnic. But by the time they had all met up under the shade of their cabaña, no one had yet heard from the redhead.

“I’ll trek back to the gift shop and look around just as soon as we’ve finished eating,” Shana promised.

“I’m sure she’s only shopping,” Aja insisted when Jerrica continued to frown with worry. “What could possibly happen to her here? At the very worst, her fries will get cold.”

Jerrica sighed. “You’re probably right.”

“Serves her right,” Aja added under her breath before her lips closed around the straw of her soda. Sometimes Kimber could be so selfish.

 

Mid-day traffic in Columbus on a Friday was not easy to maneuver. Zipper had the GPS pulled up on his phone, his eyes flickering back and forth between the digital map and the road. Apart from countless commuters and locals leaving the city for the weekend, there were about a million others coming into town for Jem and the Holograms’ big concert. Well, there wasn’t going to be any concert, but they didn’t know that yet.

Getting away from town proved to be a harrowing experience. He’d had to turn his stereo off to concentrate on navigating the four-lane cloverleaf pattern that took him out of the city at 65 miles per hour. He tried to stick at least close to the legal speed limit. If this had been L.A., he’d have driven as he pleased. But he had a girl in his trunk in an unfamiliar city, and if he screwed this job up he wouldn’t get paid. He had plans for that money. Big plans.

The redhead’s cell phone had rang a few times, playing the same tune over and over. “I really hate that song,” Zipper growled aloud as it started up again. He’d have to ditch the phone somewhere, in case its location could be traced. But he wouldn’t stop for a while yet; he had a full tank of gas and twelve hours to go before reaching the end of the road.

Zipper relaxed once he’d taken an exit and gotten onto U.S. 30 heading west. Kimber had been quiet so far. He must have knocked her out good. When she woke up she’d probably start banging around in the back, and in the lighter traffic it wouldn’t be a problem to pull over and shut her up again. For now he intended to drive until dinner time.

 

By three o’clock, all four of the girls were ransacking the gift shop near the zoo entrance. Raya checked all the dressing rooms; Shana was searching the children’s department to see if Kimber was buying gifts for the Starlight girls; Aja was questioning the clerks; and Jerrica was frantically pacing the aisle between two racks of stuffed animals, dialing Kimber’s cell again and again now.

Shana finally found Jerrica, but she didn’t look as though she had good news.

“Any luck?” Jerrica asked hopefully.

“She’s not in the kiddie section,” Shana said apologetically.

Raya approached from the opposite end of the row. “Not in the changing rooms, either.”

“Kimber…” Jerrica groaned. “Where can she be?” She looked up when she saw Aja heading their way, her brows knitted with concern. “Aja, did you find out anything?”

Aja hurried to the remaining members of the group, lowering her voice in case anyone had noticed them. They weren’t always recognized without their lead vocalist among them; though sometimes that could hurt a little, this time the girls were grateful for their privacy.

“Kimber was definitely here,” Aja informed them. “The cashier told me she browsed for a while, then bought a pair of sandals.”

Jerrica clasped her hands together under her chin, thankful for any news. “Of course! We were teasing her for wearing high heels.”

“Jerrica,” Aja said seriously, placing a hand on the blond woman’s shoulder, “Kimber left after buying those sandals more than two hours ago.”


	5. Chapter 5

It was dark now, and the complex was closed for the night. After scouring the expansive grounds themselves for another two hours, in constant communication via text messaging, Jerrica and the Holograms had alerted security of their missing bandmate. Missing. Jerrica had stuttered the word when she’d said it.

Security had conducted a thorough sweep of the entire zoo, including the water park and staff-only areas. They found no trace of Kimber.

“Poor Jerrica,” Raya sighed. She and Aja stood to the side while the police finished questioning Shana and Jerrica. Aside from a few members of security, most of the zoo’s staff had left for the day. “If anything like this happened to one of my brothers…” She couldn’t even imagine losing a member of her large, close-knit family. The worry, the fear of the unknown… She shivered at the thought, hugging herself and turning a shoulder against the flashing red and blue lights of the police cars.

“I thought she was just being a brat, making us wait for and worry about her,” Aja murmured to herself. “I spent half the day planning the argument I was going to start—and win. That meant more to me than where Kimber might be, what might be happening to her…” She choked up as her eyes flooded with guilt-ridden tears.

“Aja, you didn’t know,” Raya tried to comfort her. “On a typical day, Kimber probably would have gotten lost in her own little world. In such a public place, in broad daylight, we couldn’t have imagined anything bad might have happened to her.”

 

“Can you think of anyone who might wish your sister harm, Ms. Benton?” the police officer was asking.

Jerrica’s eyes were swimming. She couldn’t even focus on his name badge. “I—”

“Sir, we’re celebrities,” Shana broke in, wrapping an arm around Jerrica’s shoulders. She didn’t know how much more Jerrica could take. “We’ve had run-ins with obsessive fans before. Not to mention musical competitors.” She couldn’t help that Eric Raymond and The Misfits came to mind. While Jerrica was the manager for Jem and the Holograms, rival Eric Raymond was trying to top them with his own all-girl rock band, and in his mind the world wasn’t big enough for the both of them.

The policeman made a few marks in his notebook. The pages were crinkled and curled, which didn’t exactly instill any confidence in his organizational skills. They should be grateful he was even taking their statements, Jerrica supposed. She had always heard that a missing person report couldn’t be filed until the person was missing for over 24 hours, but that had fortunately turned out to be a myth.

“Look, why don’t you girls go back to your hotel for the night.” He wasn’t asking. The cop closed his notebook up and tucked it into his jacket. “We’ll review the zoo’s security footage and call you if we find anything.” He walked away without waiting for a response.

“I don’t think I can sleep,” Jerrica murmured, but she couldn’t stifle a yawn.

“Jerrica, you’re exhausted.” Shana patted her on the back, gently guiding her to where Aja and Raya stood waiting. “They said to just go back to the hotel and they’ll call us if they hear anything.”

“In the meantime, I’ll keep trying Kimber’s cell,” Jerrica said determinedly.

“Fine,” Shana soothed. “You do that.”

“Aja, can you drive?” Jerrica pleaded. She was already handing her friend the key.

“Okay.” Aja didn’t feel much like driving, but after the way she’d behaved all day, she just accepted the key to the rental car anyway. She would do anything she could to make up for the way she’d treated Kimber today.

It was a long walk back to the car. The girls linked arms and stayed as close together as possible. It was a somber march with one of them missing. They each tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other as they crossed the deserted parking lot; no one wanted to think about what may have or may be happening to Kimber; there would be plenty of those fears manifesting in their dreams tonight.

Their car wasn’t near, but it was easy to find with the day’s crowd having long since dissipated. Aja was the first to break the chain and unlocked the rental’s doors with the press of a button on the keyring. She opened the driver’s side door, but before she could climb into the vehicle, Shana asked, “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Aja turned around.

Shana was standing behind the car, pointing down at the ground. “Under the car. It looks like—”

Jerrica dropped to her knees, grasping in the shadows beneath the trunk. When she rose, she was holding the heels Kimber had been wearing earlier.

“We’ve got to stop the police before they all leave!”


	6. Chapter 6

It was more than two hours later before the girls were all safely back at their hotel. All of them except for Kimber, of course.

“I can’t believe our rental car turned into a crime scene investigation!” Aja groaned, dropping her purse onto the floor carelessly as she fell into a chair.

Not only had Kimber’s high heels been found under their vehicle, but Jerrica had identified the broken plastic in the next parking spot over as the remains of Kimber’s sunglasses. All they knew for certain now was that Kimber had gone back to the car. But what then? Had she only then realized she didn’t have the keys, and headed back into the zoo? Or had she been…abducted? She was beautiful, and a celebrity, and though Kimber certainly wasn’t stupid, she had complained loudly about the long walk from the car to the zoo; it wasn’t a stretch to imagine she would get into a car with a stranger for the promise of a ride back to the front gates.

“At least the police were kind enough to give us a lift back to our hotel,” Raya offered, stepping out of her tennis shoes. They had had to surrender the vehicle as evidence of whatever crime had been committed.

“I feel like a bad person for saying this,” Shana admitted as she sat down on one of the two queen beds in the room, “but I’m so tired I think I could pass right out.”

“Don’t feel guilty,” Jerrica soothed. The last one to enter their two-room jointed suite, she locked and bolted the door behind them, then set her purse down on the coffee table. “We’re all exhausted.”

“You, especially,” Raya said, placing a sympathetic hand on the blond’s shoulder.

“Hey, Kimber’s just as much our sister as she is Jerrica’s,” Aja snapped. “We were all raised as one family.”

Raya flinched. “Oh, I didn’t mean to—”

Shana kicked off her shoes, not even bothering to change before tugging at the covers on the bed. “Don’t worry. We’re all tired and getting cranky. Let’s just get some sleep so we can get an early start.”

“It’s already early,” Jerrica realized, noticing that dawn was just on the horizon. “I suppose there’s no point in standing around the police station all day, anyway. Let’s just do what the officer said, and get some shut-eye. They’ll call us if they find anything.” She crossed the room and pulled the curtains closed to block out the sun that would soon be rising.

“Easier said than done,” Aja muttered. She jumped out of her seat and passed through the doorway between the two bedrooms, bound for the one she shared with Raya. The pink-haired drummer hesitated, a little nervous to follow after Aja when the guitarist had gotten so defensive and angry with her just a moment ago. But the sound of a door slamming a split second later indicated that Aja had gone into their bathroom.

Jerrica put a hand on Raya’s back. “You can use our bathrom,” she offered. Shana was already tucking herself into bed and settling in, and she didn’t think she’d be able to get to sleep any time soon, in spite of being so utterly drained.

Raya murmured a hasty, “Thank you,” then retreated to the next room to gather her toothbrush and pajamas. When she returned, she stepped into Jerrica and Shana’s bathroom and closed this door more quietly than Aja had the other.

Jerrica sighed, sinking down onto the sofa with a hollow feeling inside. She felt empty and defeated, and disappointed with herself for feeling that way. It was senseless to give up hope already. She was just tired, she told herself, and maybe even a little hungry. None of them had had anything to eat or even drink since lunch today. No wonder she felt gutted inside.

She couldn’t help but stare at her empty bed, the one she had shared with Kimber just the night before, as they’d giddily discussed their plans for the zoo—the animals they had wanted to see, the great pictures they’d take to post to the band’s Instagram account for all their fans to enjoy, the memorable souvenirs they had hoped find…

Her gaze turned to her purse on the coffee table. Inside it was the gift bag holding the porcelain mermaid she’d bought for Kimber at the aquarium. She began to wonder if she would ever give it to her sister now, then gave her head a hard shake. No! She wouldn’t think like that—she couldn’t.

Jerrica heard the bathroom door open in the next room over. Then she heard another door open and close. Panicked, she jumped to her feet, rushing to the door and unlocking it to tear it open and spy down the hall.

“Aja!” she hissed, and the guitarist, dressed down in gray sweatpants and a pink T-shirt, turned and looked back at her with surprise. “Wait for me!” Jerrica ordered in a whisper, then ducked back into her room to get the key. She took a quick survey of the other girls. She heard water running through the closed bathroom door, and Shana was softly snoring.

Aja was waiting for her in the hallway when Jerrica returned, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She didn’t look up, but as Jerrica got close to her, the blond could see that her friend’s eyes were red and puffy, and knew it wasn’t just because she was tired. Jerrica knew Aja well enough to know that she blamed herself for this, just as Jerrica blamed herself. But it was neither of their faults. She had to make herself believe that before she could convince Aja of the same.

“Come on,” Jerrica sighed, tucking her key into her back pocket before draping an arm around the guitarist’s shoulders. “Let’s go down to the lobby and see if they’re serving coffee yet.”

Aja sniffed and nodded, leaning heavily against Jerrica as they walked down the hallway toward the elevator. Neither of them was tired, and besides, it wasn’t a good idea for any of them to be alone right now.


	7. Chapter 7

By nightfall Zipper had left Ohio and crossed both Indiana and Illinois to reach Iowa. He’d stopped once for gas and a sandwich to-go, but Kimber hadn’t made a peep from the trunk of his car during the whole time. He counted himself lucky, but he remembered he still had to ditch her phone. At least it wasn’t playing that damned song anymore, probably because the battery had died. Still, if it had some kind of tracking technology, their trip could end before they’d reached their final destination.

It was after eleven that evening when he’d chosen a random rural exit and found his way into a small town where he could get a more substantial meal and plenty of coffee. He’d seen a sign for a 24-hour diner and parked as far away from the highway and the front door as he could manage. Before getting out of his car, he fumbled with Kimber’s purse in search of her cell phone. When he caught hold of it, his suspicion was quickly confirmed; it looked as if its battery had died. That explained a lot, he thought with a smirk.

Zipper pushed the girl’s purse under the front side passenger seat, then climbed out of the car and chucked her dead phone into a bush on his way to the diner door.

A bell jingled when he stepped inside the dilapidated restaurant, announcing his presence. The tiles on the ceiling were stained from water damage, and the tiles on the floor were largely mismatched, as were the chairs at most of the tables. Fortunately there weren’t many other customers around at this late hour: two middle-aged men were seated across from each other in a booth, playing cards, and one lone guy wearing a heavy brown jacket was on a stool at the counter, sipping from a mug of steaming coffee that was so strong Zipper could smell it from across the room. No one looked up at his approach.

There was a TV hovering almost at ceiling-height in the corner above the register next to the serving counter. The station was turned to the news, but no one on the screen was mentioning anything about a kidnapping or about Jem and the Holograms at all. Apparently do-it-yourself pest control was more interesting than a rock star disappearing in broad daylight.

Zipper relaxed his shoulders, making his way over to where the man with the brown coat was sitting. He chose a stool nearby, leaving the seat between them empty.

A plump older woman sporting a stained apron and inquisitive eyes glanced his way. “I’ll have what he’s having, for starters,” Zipper requested, gesturing vaguely toward the other man at the counter. He peeled off his black leather jacket and set it down on the stool between them as the old lady went to pour him some coffee, then reached for a menu. “How’s about some of them blueberry pancakes?” he called out more demandingly to ensure he was heard over the brewing coffee pot.

“Little late for breakfast, isn’t it?” someone muttered.

Zipper turned to face the man seated on the stool to his left. “What’s it to you, pops?” he snapped back at him.

“Pops?” The older man chuckled behind his thick, silver mustache, repeating the immature nickname he’d been given. He folded his arms on the counter, turning his head to look at the punk in the white T-shirt that had joined him. “Just who do you think you’re talking to, son?”

“Don’t know; don’t care,” Zipper said, just as the server returned to set a hot mug of black coffee down on the counter in front of him.

“Leave him alone, Tom,” the old woman scolded the man before heading toward the kitchen in the back. “He’s just a boy.”

“Looks like a troublemaker,” the man—Tom—grunted.

Zipper didn’t need to attract even a small amount of attention to himself, so he didn’t argue. Any other day, he might have climbed down from his stool and hit the geezer with it; tonight he had to be discreet. He turned his cold blue eyes to the TV screen. Now the reporters were discussing an increase in drug trafficking from Michigan to Iowa.

“Are you, son?” The man was pushing him. “Are you here to make trouble?”

Zipper lowered his head and laughed. It would only be too easy to pull out his knife and shut the old man up for good. But now was not the time for that.

“Look, man,” Zipper said instead with a helpless shrug, “I’m just here to eat. I’m only passing through,” he added insistently.

“Good. Glad to hear it.”

Just then the server returned, this time carrying a tray with a fresh plate of pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup. Zipper straightened up eagerly, as grateful for the distraction as for the meal.

But the old guy just wouldn’t give it a rest!

“Because we don’t need any mischief around here. I don’t like troublemakers in my town.”

This time Zipper decided to give the guy a piece of his mind, demand to know just who the hell had died and made him king.

But suddenly the man was standing, and a bright, gold badge flashed in the light from the man’s chest. It read, “SHERIFF.”

Zipper turned away fast, reaching a shakey hand out for the syrup on his tray.

“Goodnight, Martha,” Tom said to the server. “See you tomorrow.” Then he turned to Zipper. “Goodnight, mister…?”

Zipper swallowed hard. “Pacheco,” he lied, borrowing the name of Jem and the Holograms’ road and stage manager. “Rio Pacheco.”

“Rio Pacheco,” Tom the Sheriff repeated, putting enough emphasis on the name to make it clear he was carefully memorizing it. “Goodnight, Mr. Pacheco. Have a safe trip out of here tonight.” It was an order. He turned and left.

Zipper heard almost nothing but the cop’s boot steps as they tread across the diner, though the sound might actually have been the pounding of his own heart. Then he heard a little bell chime as the door opened and shut again.

He poured syrup over his pancakes in a wobbling pattern, his silverware clattering together as he unwrapped his knife and fork from their paper napkin.

He needed another distraction. He needed to calm down and look and act normally. Zipper turned his head toward the television set again, but this time his gaze swept past a window, and quickly looked back again. The sheriff was outside, behind Zipper’s car. He was holding a notebook and clearly jotting down the license plate number.

“Shit,” Zipper hissed.

“Eh…what was that, sweetie?” The server, Martha, was looking at him curiously.

“Uh…” He had to get out of here! “I didn’t realize how late it was. Can you box this up for me to go?”

The old lady frowned. “To go?”

“Please?” Zipper added, standing up. “I, uh…gotta wash up. I’ll be right back.”

She continued to look at him strangely, but he backed away and then turned and made a beeline for a doorway in the back right corner of the diner where a sign indicated it led to the restrooms. He ducked down the short hallway, seeing the women’s restroom to the right and the men’s to the left. He gave the men’s room door a cursory knock, then pushed it open and locked it behind him. There was a sink to his left and a toilet beyond that. To his right was a frosted glass window.

He wasn’t thinking about anything but escape. He didn’t know if the cop was calling in his plate right this minute or not, but that was probably the safest assumption to make. Zipper may not have any outstanding warrants in Iowa, but his car bore a California plate and that was without a doubt the first place they’d check, and he had plenty of warrants out for his arrest back home.

Zipper pried open the window. It had no screen, and he was able to easily hoist himself over the ledge and climb outside to drop down to the ground. There was enough light filtering from the other diner windows for him to find his way around the back of the building to peer around the corner, where he spotted his car. The police sheriff was gone, but there was no way to know if he had gone back into the diner or called in his license plate number by now, so Zipper had only one option.

Taking the keys from the pocket of his jeans and bending down low, he raced for his car, tearing the door open and throwing himself into the driver’s seat. Ignoring his seatbelt, Zipper jammed the keys into the ignition and turned, putting the car in reverse and slamming his foot on the gas. He didn’t even hit the brakes before switching gears, peeling away from the diner with squealing tires. He completely disregarded the speed limit and floored it out of town, checking and rechecking his rearview mirror constantly for the flash of red and blue, but it never showed.

 

He’d barely had the chance to touch his coffee back at the diner, but Zipper’s adrenaline had kept him wide awake until he crossed over the Iowa state border and into Nebraska. He stopped briefly to refuel, then drove on for hours. Eventually he took an infrequently-used exit, and soon thereafter he lost his cell phone signal, and he knew he was getting close to the safehouse where he planned to meet up with his partners and get the girl situated. From here on out, he’d have to use his handwritten instructions.

Zipper finally allowed his speed to dip down below sixty miles per hour and reached for the latch on the glovebox, letting it fall open. He grabbed for the crumpled paper inside and flattened it out against the steering wheel. His eyes flickered back and forth between the written instructions and the narrow, two-lane road until it became nothing more than a deserted dirt path.

It was daylight by the time Zipper finally reached a small log cabin that had long sat unused. There was no formal driveway, so he pulled off to the side and parked in the grass next to a faded red pickup truck, honking his horn to alert the cabin’s temporary inhabitants he’d arrived. He cut the engine and yanked his keys out of the ignition, then climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut, giving a stretch. He had driven for over fifteen hours with hardly a break, and he wanted nothing more than to hand the job over to his partners and get some shut-eye.

“Hey!” someone shouted.

Zipper lifted a hand in greeting at the brawny blond that came charging toward him.

“What’s the big idea, Zipper?” the guy hissed. “Don’t honk your horn out here. You want somebody to hear us?”

“Relax, Mickey,” Zipper said dismissively. “There ain’t nobody around for miles and miles.” They were surrounded by nature. Nobody, he’d been assured, knew about this place. He rounded the side of the car and moved toward trunk. “Now give me a hand with the girl.” The blond was a much larger and stronger man, so he could carry Kimber if need be. Zipper put his key in the lock of the trunk. “Where’s Torch?” he asked.

Mickey jerked a tan thumb back toward the cabin. A long-haired man in a black wife-beater stood in the doorway, leaning against the door jamb with his arms crossed. He made no move to help them.

“Figures,” Zipper grumbled. The trunk popped open and he lifted the door. Kimber lay right where he’d placed her the day before. “Torch!” Zipper called toward the cabin. “Get some ropes!” Torch vanished into the building.

“Did she give you much trouble?” Mickey asked, hands on his hips.

“Nah. She was no trouble at all. For once…” Zipper leaned down into the trunk. “All right! Rise and shine, girlie!” He reached out and slapped Kimber's cheek, trying to rouse her to consciousness. She didn’t move.

“She looks…blue.” Mickey squinted his eyes, frowning as he watched Zipper try to wake the girl. “How long’s she been asleep like that?”

“All night,” Zipper answered, just as Torch showed up with a wad of cords dangling from his tattooed fist.

“Uh… I don’t think we’re going to need those ropes, after all,” Mickey said, turning his back to the car with a heavy sigh.

“Wake up, little girl. Wake _up!”_ Zipper screamed, reaching into the trunk to give Kimber’s shoulder a rough shake. Her head fell forward, her hair masking the dark bruise over her temple and the dried blood beneath her small nose, but she still didn’t wake. Didn’t breathe.

Zipper’s hands went as cold as Kimber’s skin when it finally dawned on him what he’d done.


	8. Chapter 8

Not only was coffee brewing in the hotel lobby, but breakfast had been served.

“I can’t believe it’s after five o’clock!” Jerrica gasped when she saw the clock on the wall above the buffet table. “We haven’t had a wink of sleep in almost twenty-four hours.”

“I wish I could say I’m tired,” Aja murmured, eyeing the single-serving cereal boxes, yogurt cups, fruit, and donuts without interest. “The truth is, I wish I could go to bed and wake up, and find that this was all just some terrible dream.”

“I know what you mean,” Jerrica sighed. “I’d give anything to do the whole day over. I wouldn’t have left Kimber to go to the gift store alone.”

“I wouldn’t have nagged her about those shoes.”

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, then Jerrica shook her head. “It’s pointless to do this to ourselves, Aja.”

“I know.” Aja drew an unsteady breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right.”

“All we can do now is focus on getting Kimber back,” Jerrica said with determination. She turned her attention to the cereal samples on the buffet table, finally reaching for a box of Fruit Loops—Kimber’s favorite.

Aja, usually one to avoid carbs, grabbed an iced donut. They each filled a Styrofoam cup with freshly-brewed coffee, then together they found a quiet table where they could eat in peace.

 

After getting ready for bed, Raya had found both hotel rooms deserted, save for Shana. It made her nervous that her friends were out of sight, but at least if both Jerrica and Aja had left, it was reasonable to assume they were together. She only wished they had let her know their plans before taking off. Now she had three people to worry about.

She checked both locks before crawling into her own bed, and left the door between the two rooms wide open. Sunlight framed the window of the room she shared with Aja, but it didn’t penetrate the heavy blackout drapes. The dim glow was as much a comfort as Shana’s soft breaths passing through the open door between the bedrooms, yet Raya found herself unable to sleep. She was afraid, for both Kimber and for the rest of the group. There was no way to know whether or not Kimber had been the only, or even primary, target of this kidnapping. Someone could be out to hurt all of them. Her mother had often worried of such a thing; after all, celebrities were often the victims of stalkers, as Jem herself well knew. Raya had reassured her mother Jem and the Holograms would have constant security and always travel as a group, but now she understood her mother’s concern. All Kimber had done was walk across a parking lot by herself in broad daylight, and now she was missing.

Raya shivered, drawing the covers up to her chin. She didn’t know if she would ever feel safe again. All she wanted to do was go home and run into her parents’ arms. She almost couldn’t blink for fear, her mind wandering to places she didn’t even want to imagine, when suddenly she heard a sound at the front door in the next room. Then she heard the door open and she gasped, then held her breath and waited. If anyone tried to hurt Shana, she’d scream so loud the front lobby would hear her!

But then Aja and Jerrica were whispering softly, and Raya’s anxiety washed away in a flood of relief. She couldn’t help but throw back the covers and rush into the next room to see them. But just as she reached the doorway between their two bedrooms, a sharp tone rang out.

“My phone!” Jerrica hissed, making a grab for her purse. She fished her cell out of its pocket and quickly pressed the green button. “Hello?” she whispered.

_“Jerrica? It’s me. Are you up?”_

“It’s Rio,” Jerrica whispered. Shana had rolled over in her sleep and was once more gently snoring. When Jerrica saw Raya standing in the doorway in her blue flower-print nightgown, she asked, “Can I take this in your room?”

“Of course,” Raya whispered back, gesturing welcomingly.

Jerrica disappeared into the other room and Raya closed the door after her. Then she turned to Aja. “Where were you?” the pink-haired drummer demanded with a sharpness to her tone that was unusual for her. “I was frightened when you both vanished!”

“Sorry, Raya,” Aja said softly. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I went to the lobby to get some coffee, and Jerrica came with me. We should have told you first.”

Raya wasn’t even listening. She rushed over to Aja and threw her arms around her, hugging her harder than ever before. “From now on,” she said in Aja’s ear, “we all stay together. All right?”

Aja was taken aback at first, but soon found her arms winding tightly around Raya’s waist. She could sense the other girl trembling, and felt Raya’s warm tears soaking through the shoulder of her T-shirt. “All right,” she agreed, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as she her own lashes dampened with tears.

 

_“Is something the matter, Jerrica?”_ Rio asked on the other end of the line. He had instinctively lowered his voice to match hers. _“Is someone sick?”_

Jerrica sat down on the edge of Aja’s still-made bed and sighed. How was she going to explain this? “Rio,” she asked in an unsteady voice, “can you come to the hotel? I need to tell you something.”

_“Sure, there’s plenty of time. Just so long as I’m back by ten for the first sound check. Jerrica, you sound strange. Is everything all right?”_

“…No,” Jerrica said hesitantly, her voice breaking as the tears finally came. Her boyfriend and Jem’s road manager had stayed in a trailer at the venue while taking care of getting all their equipment ready for the concert. He was just minutes away, but the distance between them had never felt greater. “Rio, I need you,” Jerrica pleaded.

_“I’m on my way,”_ Rio said immediately, then the call was over.

Alone in the quiet hotel room, Jerrica wept.

 

Zipper stalked back and forth inside the cabin, wearing down an anxious path on the wooden floor. Mickey and Torch were outside with the car. With…her.

“Come on, come on,” he growled nervously. He’d been trying to reach Eric’s desk phone at Misfits Music for nearly an hour. “Where’s your friggin’ secretary, Eric?” he grumbled. “What do ya pay that bitch for?”

Finally, the line picked up. Luckily it was Eric on the other end of the phone, and not his voice messaging service.

“Yeah, boss, it’s me,” Zipper said into the phone, his voice husky. “We got a problem with the plan—a big problem.”

_“I thought I told you never to call me at this number,”_ Eric snarled back at him.

“But, boss, it’s an emergency. Something…something happened, and…” Zipper licked his dry lips. His tongue felt like sandpaper. “I didn’t mean to… Look, it was an accident. I just—”

_“Stop. Talking.”_ Eric’s voice was commanding and calm. _“Don’t do anything until I get there, do you understand me? Sit down and do_ nothing.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay,” Zipper agreed, his panicked pacing coming to a standstill. “I got it, boss.”

Eric hung up on him. Zipper snapped the the disposable phone shut and tucked it into his pocket, then went outside to check on the other two men. He was stunned to see Torch climbing into the cab of a rusted green pickup truck.

“Hey!” Zipper screamed as Torch backed the truck down the driveway. “Wait a minute! Where do you two think you’re goin’?!”

Torch slammed on the break and the truck skidded to a halt. “We’re getting the fuck out of here, man,” Mickey said through the open passenger window. “You’re on your own.”

“You can’t just leave!” Zipper argued. “The boss is on his way. We’ve still got a job to do!”

“This wasn’t part of the deal,” Torch shouted from the driver’s seat. “We had nothing to do with it. And as far as you and your boss may be concerned, we were never here.”

All Zipper could do was dodge out of the way as the truck spun around, kicking up gravel. Then Mickey and Torch drove out of sight, leaving him alone with a corpse.


End file.
